When designing an electrical assembly that uses multiple integrated circuits (ICs) and especially ICs that dissipate large amounts of thermal energy (e.g., radio frequency power amplifiers, etc.), the circuit designer must take great care in resolving the thermal and mechanical interconnect issues related to such an assembly. Multiple IC assemblies (also known as "Multi-chip modules") tend to sometimes have manufacturing yield problems given that if one of the ICs in the assembly is defective, the whole assembly has to be discarded. This yield problem is especially prevalent in ICs in chip and wire form given their more delicate structure. The low yield problem is a costly problem given the number of components and manufacturing time lost when a multi-chip module assembly has to be discarded after its manufacture.
Another problem associated with multiple IC assemblies as mentioned above is the problem of how to thermally protect the ICs. The use of heat sinks mounted in thermal proximity to the ICs is well known in the art, especially when dealing with leaded power ICs. Heat dissipation techniques for surface mountable assemblies are more complex, but solutions to these problems have also been found in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,185 to Griffin et al. entitled, "Leadless Surface Mountable Assembly," describes a packaging technique for thermally protecting heat generating devices in a leadless assembly. Although the noted patent provides a good solution to heat dissipation problems in a leadless assembly, it fails to address the yield problem associated with multi-chip modules mentioned above. With the push in radio communication equipment to higher and higher frequencies, and smaller and smaller equipment, there is a strong need for electronic packaging which conserves space, is easy to assembly and helps reduce manufacturing yield problems. As such, a need thus exists in the art for an assembly that can provide interconnection to several IC circuits, minimize size, improve the finished assembly's manufacturing yield and provide heat dissipation capabilities when required.